The Task
by twentysevendays
Summary: Chapter 4 finally up! Their original task brings them to a battle with an old enemy and another surprise! Discontinued.
1. The Problem

Sheba: MercuryAdept does not own Golden Sun.

Isaac: And it shall stay that way forever.

Mia: Oh yes, and she tried her best to give you the fic in American English.

MercuryAdept: That was because the Microsoft Document in my PC is set to A. English and I don't know how to fix it so Spell Check goes haywire when I write school reports in B. English. So, it is in A. English… I think…

Sheba: Enough with your rambling! Can you just get on with the lame story?! ::Sparks are crackling over her head::

Mercury: Eep! Okay anyway, here is Chapter 1 of the story. ::muttering::  Note to self: Never make a Jupiter Adept, especially Sheba, wait, unless you're asking for a Spark Plasma. 

Sheba: I heard that! ::runs after MercuryAdept

Mercury: Eep! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! ::runs away:: 

Isaac and Mia: ::anime sweatdrop:: 

Mia: Umm, there's a really _really_ long flashback later so you might want to skip it because that part was from the first game. And, erm…here's the fic.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 1- The Problem

++++++++++++++++++++++++

"How long have we been walking?" whined a red-haired boy with brown eyes.

      "Shut up, Garet, and give me a break, unless you want me to Dragon Fume you," snapped a girl with auburn hair and similar brown eyes. "We going to solve a problem and if you don't shut up you'll be reduced to a cinder." Her name was Jenna, and she and a group of seven Adepts, including Garet, were nearing their destination—Kolima Forest.  

      _Make that a really huge problem,_ thought Ivan, one of the eight Adepts. Having short blond hair and purple eyes, Ivan was a Jupiter Adept, meaning that he possessed Psynergy of the wind type and certain psychic abilities too, like the ability to read minds and perceive hidden truths. 

      Anyway, the eight Adepts had to go to Kolima Forest for a mission: To free it from a rogue man's control. Tret, who (or which, I don't know!) was the forest king of Kolima, had somehow come under the man's control, and that had made Kolima Forest come under the man's control. He could manipulate all the plants in the forest or even make the entire forest wilt and die.

      _Déjà vu, _thought Isaac. _It is still so clear, even though it was about a year ago…_

Isaac was thinking about a incident about a year ago, when he had came to Kolima for the first time and with just Garet and Ivan, without Mia, Felix, Jenna, Sheba or Piers. It was before any of the four Elemental Lighthouses were lit. Isaac, Garet and Ivan had just walked into the town of Kolima when they noticed the entire town was filled with logs.

      _Not just the houses, of course, _he added silently to himself.

--------------------------- [Flashback…]

_Isaac and his friends walked into the eerily quiet town of Kolima. Everything was made of trees, even the houses._

There are the trees again – exactly like the ones at Bilibin, _Isaac thought. _

_"Hey, look, those trees look like the one at Bilibin's Entrance," exclaimed Garet, voicing out Isaac's thoughts. _

_"But they look so much like humans," said Ivan. He walked to the nearest tree and cast Mind Read. The familiar purple rings of Psynergy force surrounded Ivan. When he was done, he looked aghast. _

_"They're actually humans!" he gasped. "They're not trees!"_

_"They aren't?" asked Garet. _

_"No!" _

_Isaac peered around the quiet town and spotted something. Garet also noticed it. _

_"What's that sparkly stuff over there?" inquired the Mars Adept, pointing at something. Ivan turned. _

_"I don't know…" Suddenly, Ivan let out a cry of pain. _

_"Aargh!" Ivan fell to the ground. "I'm paralyzed! I can't move!" he cried. _

_At exactly the same moment, Isaac felt an excruciating pain and fell to his knees. He felt all of the Psynergy being drained out of him and lay sprawled on the dirt floor. Next to him, Garet was also gave a cry of pain. Isaac tried to move but he could only move his eyes. Somehow, Flint, Forge, and Gust had managed to get out of the Adepts before they were paralyzed and were now poring over their respective allies. _

_"Isaac! Are you alright?" Flint asked with concern._

_Isaac could hear Forge fussing over Garet nearby. "Garet! Garet! What's happened to you?" _

_"IVAN! What's wrong?" Ivan's Djinni twittered in circles all over him. "IVAN! IVAN! IVAN!" _(If you think Gust is obsessed with her ally, the issue was from EchoKazul's fic, The Book of Golden Sun. I don't think so, but if you do, here's the source anyway)__

_"I don't know, Flint… I can't move and my Psynergy's suddenly been drained out of me…" Isaac managed to say._

_Before the Venus Djinni could reply, Garet interrupted him abruptly.  _

_"Look! There's that sparkling stuff again!" said the Mars Adept somewhere from his left._

_"Oh no! It must be what turned the people of Kolima to trees!" exclaimed the Jupiter Adept from his right. "And it's getting nearer!"_

_Isaac's sapphire eyes traveled to where Ivan's purple ones were looking at. If he were not paralyzed, his jaw would have dropped. The sparkling stuff was now a few inches away from the trio. _

_Suddenly, a golden- colored dome formed around him and his Djinni. Flint noticed it too and looked up. _

_The sparkling substance was directly falling above him now, oh not at all was it touching him. It fell on the dome and slid off the sides. _

_Isaac looked over to where Garet was. The Mars Adept also had a dome around him, and it was red in color. Ivan had one too and his was purple in color. The substance trickled off the domes and onto the grass. _

_Suddenly, the substance stopped dropping and Isaac could move his body again. He stood up and saw Garet and Ivan getting up, too. Their Djinn disappeared back inside them, relieved to see that the Adepts were not trees. _

_"Did you see those domes that were protecting us?" Ivan exclaimed in disbelief. "They protected us from the substance!" His fellow Adepts nodded. _

_"What did you think they were?" Garet asked. Ivan paced around before speaking up. _

_"I think we were projecting Psynergy."_

_Before the Jupiter Adept could continue, Garet interrupted him. "Psynergy? Don't lie, Ivan. I couldn't feel _any_ Psynergy at all when I was paralyzed. _

_"Me too,' added Isaac._

_"Well, I think Psynergy appears only when it's needed," explained Ivan. He continued, explaining further on his theory. _

_"Wow. I never knew that even though I'm older than you, Ivan," admitted Isaac. "Look-- The sparkling stuff's coming again!"_

_The other Adepts noticed this too, and started focusing their minds on projecting the Psynergy barrier. They succeeded and were safe as the substance trickled away. _

_"Hroom!" boomed a deep and low voice that made all three Adepts jump. "Why don't they turn into trees?"_

_"Who are these people who are immune to Tret's glamour?" came a more feminine and gentle voice. "Perhaps they can save all of Kolima and Kolima Forest."_

_"Hroom! Laurel, it is impossible! When we die, so will all of Kolima!" came the low voice again. The Adepts listened intently._

_"Tret was once a kindly forest king. All of Kolima Forest bloomed and the people of Kolima lived happily. But one day, someone came to Kolima Forest and tried to cut Tret down. The evil side of Tret was unleashed and he started placing a curse on anybody that went near the forest and the people of Kolima were affected, too. Now, you must reawaken his gentle side before the people of Weyard become trees and die when Tret and I do."_

_"Hroom! Laurel, there is no hope! Kolima took their axes to me, and now I take mine to them! When we die, all of Kolima will cease to exist!" said the one known as Tret._

_Laurel spoke again. "Look for us deep within the Forest, North of Kolima. Reawaken the gentle Tret before all of Kolima wastes away. Good luck, Adepts."_

--------------------------- [End of Flashback]

After a while, the Adepts had decided to do what Laurel said. They found Tret deep within the Forest and battled him. They came out victorious and the gentle side of Tret returned. However, Tret had no energy to revert the people of Kolima back to normal. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan then traveled to the northern regions of Angara, where the quiet town of Imil and the Mercury Lighthouse resided. It was also where they had met Mia. After a brief meeting with her, she rushed off to the Lighthouse. After helping her a few times, Mia decided to join Isaac's party. They completed several hard puzzles before reaching the Lighthouse Aerie, where they met Saturos, Menardi, Felix, Jenna, Alex and Kraden. Saturos and Menardi lit the Mercury Lighthouse Beacon with the Mercury Elemental Star before a battle between the four Adepts and Saturos ensued. They defeated Saturos and got the Hermes' Water they needed. They traveled back to Kolima, Mia with them, and gave Tret the Hermes' Water he needed. He uncursed the people of Kolima and they continued their journey. 

Flashbacks of these accounts whirred throughout Isaac's mind. Suddenly, Mia's voice interrupted his thoughts. 

      "Isaac, look out!"

Sheba: ::death glare:: A cliffhanger?

Mercury: Yes! ::grinning broadly:: 

Sheba: You know I abhor cliffhangers, Mercury! You know! 

[At this point of time, sparks are crackling over Sheba's head.]

Mercury: Oh course, I do. And if you're discontented with it, I'll use my author powers! 

All Adepts: ::gasp:: Scary author powers? Just like EchoKazul and Midnight C? NNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!

All except Sheba: Keep quiet Sheba! Otherwise Mercury will use her scary author powers!

Sheba: O-Okay…

[The sparks disappear]

Mercury: R&R! Oh yes and if you express great dislike for the name Piers, please add that in your review that you would prefer Picard. :) I should be able to get Chapter 2 up by next week or so coz' it's the school holidays for me in my country. Erm, I got mixed up with the time slots when Tret and Laurel started talking, and also what they talk about, so sorry! See you!


	2. The Hooded Man

Sheba: Mercury! Why didn't you put this on the fan fiction site on Wednesday (3rd September)? Why did you only put his up today? (5th September)

Mercury: Well, I couldn't get to the Net because the dumb connection wouldn't work! I could only go from today!

Sheba: Yeah, right. 

Mercury: You are getting more annoying at the minute, Sheba. Shut up, or else…

Sheba: Or else what?

Mercury: I'll use my author powers! 

[Silence]

Isaac: Okay, um…MercuryAdept would like to thank the following people for reviewing her story. If your name is not listed here, sorry, as the names here are only those that she saw on the review page before she uploaded this chapter.

Mercury: Erm, I got a flame from someone called You Suck!… Well, since you don't like it, don't read it then. 

Sheba: Next review!

Mercury: Well… I got a review from EchoKazul. Thanks for the encouraging review, Echo. Your stories are great, too. ::rereads review:: Umm, okay, hope you like this chapter. 

Sheba: ::looking over Mercury's shoulder:: You're scared of a scrunchy?

Mercury: Shut up, Sheba. 

Sheba: [gleefully] Mercury's scared of a scrunchy! Mercury's scared of a scrunchy! Mercury's scared-

[Suddenly, a lightning bolt appears from nowhere and strikes Sheba. She collapses, her hair slightly singed.]

Mercury: ::sly grin::

Sheba Fans: :: gasp:: MercuryAdept, you are so going to pay for this! ::all charge at her::

[The lightning bolt strikes them, too.]

Ivan: Sheba! ::turns to Mercury:: Why did you do that you-

[The same lightning bolt strikes Ivan, too.]

FBM (Fans of a Blonde Midget): IVAN! 

Mercury: He deserved that for yelling at me. 

FBM: [really angry] MercuryAdept!!! ::comes charging at her:: 

[The lightning bolt returns and strikes the FBM]

Mercury: ::closes laptop contentedly:: 

Isaac + Mia: ::shuddering:: Scary author powers… 

Mercury: That's right, my muses. Sheba's lucky she was one of my favorite characters. Otherwise she would be struck by a tsunami. 

Mia: Oh, umm… MercuryAdept does not own Golden Sun, the FBM, or the idea of scary author powers. She forgot to put the last one in the first chapter. 

++++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 2- The Hooded Man

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Isaac turned his head when he heard Mia's voice but continued walking. 

      "What?" he asked.

      "Isaac! Stop!" she cried, running up to him.

      "Why-?" But he didn't get to finish his sentence. He bumped into something rough and blacked out. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sniggering could be heard in the background. Isaac opened his eyes wearily. He saw Mia's face, contorted with concern. 

      "Isaac! You're awake!" she exclaimed, and her worried face broke into a relived smile. 

      "Wh-what happened?" he asked. The Venus Adept realized he was lying on the forest ground. 

      "You bumped into a tree and fell unconscious," she explained. "And you've been out cold for half an hour. We had to stop and wait for you to wake up."

      "Strange… I don't feel any pain…" 

      "Well, you had a bruise on your forehead, but I've used Ply."

      "Who's laughing?" interrogated Isaac.

      "Garet and Jenna." Mia shot the Mars Adepts a disapproving look from the corner of her aqua eyes. "They said that Venus Adepts shouldn't bump into stuff since they're so careful. And you did, so they thought it was funny. But I don't think so." She looked back into Isaac's azure eyes. "I told them Venus Adepts aren't all perfect."  

      Isaac smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Mia." 

      Mia grinned. "No problem. Do you think you're okay now?"

      The Venus Adept nodded and got up slowly with Mia's help. 

      "Hey, Isaac. Are you okay?" asked Piers. (No reviews about wanting of Picard yet) The Lemurian was sitting under a tree nearby. 

      "Yeah. Thanks, Piers," replied Isaac.

      "Good. So we can go now," came Felix's voice. The raven-haired Venus Adept hopped down from the rock he was sitting on. Isaac nodded. 

      "Hey, Isaac. All right there? Heard you knocked into a tree!" sniggered Garet. Jenna burst out into fits of laughter. 

      Isaac glared at his childhood friends. Jenna and Garet were still laughing. When they realised that the rest were glaring at them, they kept quiet. 

      "How near are we to Kolima Forest?" Isaac asked as he walked. 

      "A few minutes' walk," replied Piers as they continued walking. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Is this Kolima Forest?" Sheba asked. 

      "Yes it is," replied Garet.

      The Adepts had reached Kolima Forest. Mia, Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers, who had never been here before, marveled at the lush green grass, blooming flowers, calm sapphire streams and sturdy trees of the forest. 

      "Even though it looks peaceful, monsters can appear from anywhere so be careful," warned Isaac. 

      "Look! A whole swarm of Drone Bees!" exclaimed Ivan. And he was right. 

      An entire swarm of Drone Bees appeared from behind some tightly- packed trees and headed at them. 

      "Looks like we'll have to fight them," decided Felix. The swarm buzzed angrily at them. 

      "Why are they so angry? We didn't do anything!" cried Jenna, brandishing the Tisiphone Edge out of its scabbard. 

      "It must be the man's doing!" said Piers, casting Deluge on some of the Drone Bees. The bees hummed in anger as they rushed forward, drenched, at Piers, their stings facing him. 

      "Pyroclasm!" hollered Garet.

      "Dragon Fume!" yelled Jenna. 

      Both Psynergy were aimed at the offensive insects. Flames burned the insects as they droned loudly. Piers muttered a hurried 'Thanks' to the Mars Adepts as they smirked triumphantly.

      "Legend!" bellowed Felix.  The swords of Jupiter Psynergy hit some of their enemies and they disappeared after a Tundra attack by Mia. 

      Isaac unleashed Flint, one of his Djinni. It rushed out from his garments and crashed into a group of bees that did not scatter fast enough. Although they were weakened, they buzzed angrily at the Venus Adept and charged at him. Ivan and Sheba rushed in to help, both casting Shine Plasma at the rest of their unwelcome pests, defeating all of the Drone Bees. A small bounty of coins lay in a heap where the bees disappeared. Isaac wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead as he scooped up the coins into his money bag.

      "Wel,l that was surprising," commented Felix, sheathing Excalibur back inside its leather scabbard. 

      "That's just the beginning. Whoever's controlling Tret will have more challenges for us to overcome," said Ivan, panting. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

      Garet groaned. "Not the puzzles again!" 

      The group had reached the area with the first log puzzle. When Isaac, Garet and Ivan had just past Kolima Forest for the first time, Garet had decided to try the puzzles first. When Isaac and Ivan tried to help, Garet assured them that he could complete the puzzle by himself. An hour later, Garet had not made any progress at all. Isaac sniggered as the memory came back to him. 

      "What's so funny?" asked Garet. 

      "N-nothing," said Isaac, stifling his laughter. Inside, he was bursting to laugh out loud. In the memory, Garet had finally given up and Isaac and Ivan solved it in a matter of minutes. Garet blushed crimson red when they did. 

      "Isaac, can you still remember how to solve this puzzle?" asked Ivan. The Venus Adept snapped back to reality and struggled to remember the solution. He nodded slowly and started pushing the logs so they left their pathway across the river clear. Everyone smiled at him as they hopped across the log. 

      The Venus Adept cleared the next puzzle easily with some help from Ivan. And at last, they reached the part where Laurel and Tret were. 

      Laurel looked exactly the same as Isaac, Garet and Ivan had seen her before, but her face was contorted with worry. Isaac thought that if Laurel had a human's face, her face would be full of wrinkles. Slowly, the tree opened her eyes.

      "Oh, it is the Adepts… Save Tret… before it's too late…" she murmured before her eyelids drooped again.

      Mia, Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers stared bewildered at the tree. Did it just talk? They knew Tret was a talking tree but there was more than one talking tree? Weird. 

      "Umm, guys," said Ivan, sensing their confusion. "This is Laurel. She's another tree."

      "Oh," said Piers. "Well, let's move on, then."

      Garet nodded. "Tret is over there. Let's go." The Mars Adept had pointed to their right. He headed there first, with the others following behind. 

      In the other area, Tret was looking vicious and angrier than when Isaac, Garet and Ivan first saw him.

      "HROOM!" he boomed suddenly, and all the Adepts thought they just had a heart attack. (Maybe Kraden would if he were with them) "YOU ARE THE ONE NAMED ISAAC! GO TO LUNPA NOW! MY MASTER SAID SO!"

      "Master?" questioned Sheba.

      "YES!!!" roared the tree. "GO NOW!"

      "We won't," said Felix firmly. 

      "YES YOU WILL!"

      "Nope, not even if you paid us a million gold coins!" said Garet, wielding the Darksword by the hilt. "Well, maybe I would."

      "_Garet!_" scolded Jenna. 

      "Ah, persistent, aren't we?" came a voice that sounded oddly familiar to Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia. Isaac gripped the Sol Blade even harder. Garet looked around the area frantically, expecting someone to show up. Ivan racked his brains, trying to remember who the voice belonged to. Mia's cerulean eyes darted around, getting ready to smash the Nebula Wand at the first person to make a sudden movement. The other four looked at the tree determinedly as a tingle ran down each of their backs. 

      "Who are you? And why are you controlling Tret?" shouted Piers, trying to ignore the tingle. 

      "Who am I? I shall show you who am I."

      A shadowed figure emerged from the back of the tree. He or she wore a brown and ragged traveling cloak that shielded his face. He yanked the hood of his head. Dark green hair and a matching moustache were some of his features. There was an evil glint in his eyes as he gave the eight Adepts and unpleasant smirk. 

      "You!" exclaimed Garet.

      "Dodonpa?" Ivan said in disbelief.

"Yes," the man said. "Me."

Sheba: (who woke up sometime in the middle of the chapter) MERCURY!!! What is it with you and cliffhangers? You had one the previous chapter and another one _again_?

Mercury: Duh. It adds suspense to the chapters. 

Sheba: I HAAAAAAAAAATE cliffhangers, author girl! Spark Plas-

Mercury: I know that. And-

All except Sheba: Shut up before she uses her scary author powers!!! ::shudder:: Remember before?

Sheba: Oh yeah. ::hands fall from original Psynergy-casting position::

MercuryAdept: R&R! Oh yes, and say it if you want Picard. Ciao! 


	3. Out of the Forest

MercuryAdept: Yay! Sorry for the super-slow update for this chapter! I had EXAMS! (And a case of writer's block) Anyway, let's cut to the chase today. I would like to thank the following people for reviewing my story. If your name's not here, sorry! Granite!

Granite: Here you are. ::somehow hands her printed page of reviews (Djinn have no hands)::

Mercury: Okay. Replies:

Never Been Taken Alive: Thanks for saying I don't suck and reviewing. 

Void: Thank you for saying the accident was funny. I doubt trees are related to Mars, Jupiter, or Mercury, either.

Dark Ice Dragon: Wow, the cliffy was good? Yay! And Dodonpa wants—Wait! I can't give away the story! It'll be revealed in this chapter.

Blitz: Hey! Cliffies are NEVER good.

Mercury: Ignore that Djinni. 

EchoKazul: Thanks for reviewing! Hmm, Picard, huh? Okay, fine with me. Hope there're no objections. Good idea to delete 'You Suck's' review. I probably will. 

Blitz: Hey, Mercury, you still haven't told Sheba what's sooooo scary about EchoKazul's scrunchy. 

Mercury: Oh yeah. Ah, screw it. With that done, disclaimer, please, Sleet!

Sleet: MercuryAdept does not own any part of Golden Sun at all. Camelot and Nintendo do. Now scroll down for the fic! 

Granite: Oh yes, Piers shall now be called Picard, like EchoKazul requested.

[NOTE: If you have only started reading this story, Blitz, Granite and Sleet are my new muses. Isaac, Mia and Sheba have been sent back to Triad Orion and Griffinkhan respectively]

+++++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 3- Out of the Forest

+++++++++++++++++++++

Surprised was what each of the eight Adepts was feeling now. Even Picard felt surprised, as he knew Dodonpa was Lunpa's grandson, and Lunpa was presently living in his hometown of Lemuria. 

          "You?" asked Ivan incredulously. "Weren't you imprisoned in jail by your own father?"

          "Ah, that incident…" said Dodonpa, the smirk still on his face. "I shall tell you in a moment… Tret! Bind these pesky Adepts right now with your vines!"

          "Hroom!!!" boomed Tret [once again!]. There was a little scramble for the clearing in the surrounding trees as green vines shot out from the sides of the titanic tree. The vines grabbed each of them and wrapped them tightly, just enough for them to breathe normally. 

          "Now… you listen while _I _talk.

          "I escaped from that nasty prison, of course with my great wit. I fled my hometown of Lunpa and went south, smartly navigating through a cave. Afterwards, I disguised myself as a wandering traveler and rested at the Bilibin Inn. The very next day, I set off in a southeastern direction and found the small village of Kolima. 

          "I heard some people talking about the great tree Tret my time there. They said that he ruled Kolima Forest. Then, a brilliant plan formed in my mind… 

          "I decided to see how great this Tret was… and somehow, I managed to control him. Now, I am going to hold you eight ransom and demand money from your families!" Dodonpa laughed a high, cold laugh that triggered a tingle down each of their backs. "And even if they _do _manage to come out with the large amount of coins, you will probably be dead by then!" He laughed again. As he turned to leave, he smirked unpleasantly at them and added, "If you _do _have the luck to get free from the vines, I'll be at Kalay, demanding ransom from Hammet…"

          "Oh great, now what do we do?" grumbled Jenna. "We are trapped in this stupid forest by a crazy maniac who wants to hold us for ransom from our families. If only we could move… I would cut the vines with my Tisiphone Edge."

          An idea leapt into Isaac's mind. "Sheba, you have Gale with you, right?" Sheba nodded. "Use Gale to cut our vines!" 

          "Great idea, Isaac!" Sheba shouted. 

          _Gale!_ she tried to call the Djinni telepathically.

          _Yes, Sheba? _came the reply.

          _I need you to cut our vines so we can be freed,_ Sheba 'said' back. 

          _Well, okay,_ agreed the Jupiter Djinni. Sheba yelled, "Gale!" and the lavender-colored Djinni came zooming out from the Jupiter Adept's tunic. It flew swiftly at the Adepts' vines, and sliced them nicely. The group of eight Adepts fell to the forest ground one after another as Gale sped back to Sheba.

          _There you go! Job done! _declared the little creature happily. 

          "Good work, Gale," agreed Sheba. "Go back and Set yourself, okay?" Obeying her, the Jupiter Djinni returned to its original place. 

          After some grateful thank-yous, Felix cast Retreat to return to the entrance of Kolima Forest. All eight of them glowed a mild orange and gave off a slight aura of Venus Psynergy, as they were slowly teleported back to the entrance of the forest.  

          "How long has it been since Dodonpa left the forest?" inquired Mia. 

          Isaac was deep in thought for a while. "Not long. Probably about a quarter of an hour, I guess."

          "Then he probably hasn't reached there yet," deduced Felix. "He most probably traveled through Goma Cave and decided to go south to Kalay. My guess is that he's probably still in Goma Cave." The rest of the Adepts nodded in agreement. 

"Wrong," drawled a familiar voice. _That voice is too familiar, _thought Isaac. He and the rest whirled around. Dodonpa stood near them, the obnoxious smirk still on his face.

          "Why are you still here?!" Garet blurted out.

          "Ah, I knew the eight of you were smart enough to get your way out of that simple situation and would eventually catch up before long," he replied. "And… I have a little surprise for you…" He gestured to their backs, and they stared at the creature approaching them.

          It was Toadonpa. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mercury: Okay, so I lied. This story's going to have more than five chapters because of another surprise I'm going to give them. [Serious hint on another cliffy like this]

Granite: All I have to say is that you are seriously evil, Mercury. You just love leaving off the readers at terrible cliffhangers like this, don't you? You already put cliffhangers in both Chapters 1 and 2 and now you're going to do it again.

Sleet: Are all authors like that?

Mercury: Be quiet, or have a taste of Scary Author Powers!!!

[Silence]

Mercury: Okay, anyway, about Gale cutting the vines for the Adepts, um, they can't exactly move their hands so those wielding swords could not cut the vines. There. ::turns to Blitz + Granite + Sleet:: And in Mercury's Fury, I did NOT leave cliffies at all. 

Blitz: But you did leave them in suspense on the mystery person. 

Mercury: …

Blitz: Hah! I'm right! 

Mercury: … Okay, if you want the next chapter to come out quickly, please review! And remember: NO POINTLESS FLAMES!!!


	4. Another Unexpected Surprise

Hi everyone! This time, I return with Chapter 4 of this story! =D Sorry for the fairly long wait! I had a minor case of writer's block again and it was a bit tiring writing this… .

Blitz: ::smiling:: Yes.

Hmm… You're feeling less homicidal today. Why? 

Blitz: ::still smiling:: I'm letting you off today because I get a cameo in this chapter. However, you can expect at least a Tempest or Shine Plasma if you leave off at the fourth cliffhanger in a row. Be glad that it's not another Spark Plasma.

Ooookay… First, I have some… news.

Blitz: Well, make them quick. 

Firstly, I changed the title of the story (duh). And erm, I changed the Adepts' weapons from before, because I replayed TLA and felt more comfortable with the recent file. Sorry about it! And I've altered the previous chapters, too. Now, the reviews.

Granite: ::the same as always; somehow hands reviews over:: Mercury apologizes if your penname isn't here; these were the only reviewers when she checked the review page. 

Dark Ice Dragon: Uh… yeah, but I also have a little surprise for them. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Vyctori: Uh oh. Someone else who hates cliffhangers (like most people, anyway). Thanks for the compliments! 'You Suck' actually flamed Midnight C and Yoshimi Takahashi? Gosh. Thanks again. Uh, you prefer Piers? That may be a bit of a problem…

Yoshimi Takahashi: Thank you! Er, actually, he isn't going to be VERY improved from before, the Adepts are… Well, I'll let you find out yourself. But, there is going to be a *little* surprise in this chapter, as I said when I replied to Dark Ice Dragon's review. Thank you for the compliment again! And I'm not going to deny that the cliffhangers happen on a regular basis. 

Blitz: You had better NOT put another terrible and evil cliffhanger in the story unless you want a bit of a Tempest attack today.

Granite: And Grand Gaia!

Sleet: You can't forget Freeze Prism. 

Eep. I'm going to be in hospital after this… 

The Faction's Lord: Thanks! But cliffhangers add the all-important genre of suspense! Hopefully, you and the other readers will find it interesting, because there's the battle in this chapter!

EchoKazul: Thank you again for reviewing, Echo! I also wonder how Camelot came up with that name anyway…

With that done, let's begin the story before Blitz fries me with Shine Plasma.

Sleet: MercuryAdept does not own any part of Golden Sun at all; Camelot and Nintendo do.

Oh, and the idea of reviving previous enemies was from Omniflyer's fic, Faces of War. (Seriously, you should read it if you haven't.)

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Chapter 4- Another Unexpected Surprise

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"Toadonpa?!" Garet exclaimed, his jaw dropping on seeing the blue toad again. "But… but we defeated him! Way back in Lunpa when we freed Master Hammet!"

          "Ah yes… You certainly did…" Dodonpa said, still smirking smugly. "But with some help, I managed to revive him… Thanks to you!" He pointed at Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia.

          "Us?" Ivan asked, confused. "Why would we help you?" 

          "Yes… the four of you…" he replied. "You dropped this when you were fighting Toadonpa… and it was very good that you did…" He reached inside his tattered traveling cloak and held up a small jar. A few drops of a glistening, gold liquid were still inside and they shone brightly in Sol's rays of light. The Adepts stared at the fluid and realised what it was before long. Picard was the first to speak up.

          "…The Water of Life…"

          "So that was why I found some Water of Life missing back then…" Mia said. "It's all my fault Toadonpa's back again… I'm so sorry, guys… I indirectly caused this."

          "It's okay, Mia," Isaac comforted her. "You didn't know this would happen, and any of us could dropped by accident. Besides, he wasn't very hard to defeat even back then…"

          "Plus, we've grown so much stronger so should be a pushover. It's going to be no sweat at all—we've also got the advantage in numbers," Garet remarked, drawing the Darksword from its leather scabbard. The rest of them nodded in agreement, and one by one, all drew their swords and staffs and readied themselves for battle. 

          "Still, we don't know what he's up to," Ivan warned the rest of them as he unsheathed the Tisiphone Edge. "And Toadonpa is weak against the Mars element and resists Mercury-based attacks." The rest nodded, meaning that they understood.

          "Go, Toadonpa!" Dodonpa ordered. The repulsive amphibian sprang forward and lunged at Sheba. The young Jupiter Adept was quick to react. She dodged the blow agilely, leaping back away from it. She raised her Lachesis' Rule and yelled, "Apocalypse!" 

The translucent apparition of Lachesis appeared. Though she did not look especially intimidating, she lashed at Toadonpa with strong force, and it was thrown back from the impact of the attack. Ivan and Jenna grabbed the chance to cast Destruct Ray and Dragon Fume respectively. Lightning bolts were magically conjured and they struck their target. Similarly, a titanic plume of vermilion flames shaped in a dragonhead appeared from the tip of the Tisiphone Edge and crashed heavily into it. 

Dodonpa was starting to get nervous and all the confidence before seemed to have disappeared completely. Even though he was dealing with eight teenagers, Toadonpa was being rapidly attacked by some invisible forces they were controlling. Those invisible forces were helping those teenagers a lot and they were gaining the upper hand. He did not know what to do…

As Toadonpa got up, Isaac raised the Sol Blade high and bellowed, "Megiddo!" The Venus Adept leapt up high in the air and hurled a giant meteor at the toad. Charging down at breakneck speed and tremendous force, the meteor crashed into the toad, making it fall back for the second time at the same time bringing it closer to defeat. Felix then cast Odyssey, one of the strongest Venus Psynergy attacks. The three colossal swords made entirely out of Venus Psynergy pierced through Toadonpa, giving it a fairly large amount of damage. It got up as quickly as it could, this time casting an unfamiliar attack neither of them had ever seen before.

          A violet-black source of pulsating energy slowly formed in front of its mouth and grew in size until it was the size of a full-grown man. As it did, the Adepts readied themselves for what would happen next. All of a sudden, the gargantuan orb stopped growing and charged at the eight of them. It slammed them back and some of them had slight injuries. Still, they each suffered quite an amount of damage. Dodonpa smirked at this; maybe he would win after all. The new skill Toadonpa had learnt was definitely useful…

          "I've never seen that before!" Sheba remarked, getting on her feet. "Is everyone okay?" Everyone else nodded slightly and got up.

          _How could he attack twice in a row? _Jenna wondered, as she, too, got to her feet.

          "Still, that resembled the Fusion Dragon's Outer Space attack and the Doom Dragon's Cruel Ruin a lot… Pure Wish!" Mia said. Everyone instantly felt more invigorated and thanked the Mercury Adept before returning to the battle. 

          Resuming the battle, Picard dealt a physical blow to Toadonpa with the Fire Brand and Garet cast Liquifier, a powerful Mars-aligned Psynergy. Small but swift fireballs rained down on it and it fell back for another time. 

          Before it could get up and attack again, Sheba darted forward and called out, "Blitz!" The purple Jupiter Djinni sped out from its owner and flew above Toadonpa. The creature hovered above it and suddenly, lightning bolts appeared, electrifying the being. After that, Blitz flew back to Sheba and sat on her shoulder.

          As Ivan leapt forward to unleash Whorl, Dodonpa began to panic again. Those invisible forces were dealing rapid damage to Toadonpa! Those teenagers may actually win again, even if Toadonpa had the 'Darkness Blast' tactic. And the blue-haired girl could heal her friends… 

          The Jupiter Djinni soared into the air and despite its small size, struck its target with strong blasts of wind. Toadonpa staggered back, before the purple-black orb slowly grew in front of the Adepts again. This time, Picard unleashed Shade just in time, and the blue Mercury Djinni hopped up and leapt up high in front all eight of the Adepts. A protective aura surrounded all of them before Shade returned to Picard and perched on his shoulder, waiting for him to summon it. Just then, the massive orb charged at them again, but it was not as deadly as before. Isaac, who was the first to recover from the attack, leapt up and cast Grand Gaia. The mammoth-sized boulders ascended from beneath the earth and blasted Toadonpa. As so, the rocks left a large chasm between the eight Adepts and Dodonpa and Toadonpa. Dodonpa nearly fell into the dark depths, but he was, unfortunately, saved when he grabbed hold of the edge and slowly hoisted himself up. 

          Though she knew that her opponent was resistant to Mercury-based attacks and Psynergy, Mia still knew that doing so, it would still weaken it at least a bit. So, she unleashed Mist, one of her Mercury Djinni, with that thought in mind. The rather corpulent creature hit Toadonpa, and though it did not weaken it considerably, it lulled the toad to sleep. It slumped on the floor, as its eyelids drooped and drifted off to sleep. 

          Taking advantage of her opponent's inability to attack, Jenna called out Fury. The Mars Djinni sped towards its target and gave a shrill cry. As it did, translucent wraiths appeared and slammed into Toadonpa, hurting it. Still, it still slept despite the attack. Felix raised his Excalibur, and shouted, "Legend!" 

          A gigantic, purple symbol descended from the sky and suspended in mid-air before Psynergetic swords, similar to the Psynergy Odyssey, appeared from the middle and pierced Toadonpa in its stomach thrice. Soon, the symbols and the swords disappeared and the still sleeping amphibian. 

          "Torch!" Garet bellowed. Immediately, the Mars Djinni flew out and smashed into its target, which threw it back a few feet, before flying back to its owner. This attack finally woke it up, and it jumped at Ivan, who leapt back and unleashed Zephyr before leaping away from the brunt of the physical blow with his increased speed. Sheba raised her right hand and hollered, "I call upon Procne, the goddess in the form of a bird!"

          Blitz, Whorl, and Zephyr flew from their owners' shoulders and soared high into the air before disappearing. Moments later, an enormous tornado was suddenly conjured, and it sucked the startled Toadonpa into its spinning vortex and high into the air. Dodonpa watched, stunned, as he saw Toadonpa suddenly spinning yet floating in mid-air. Then, as the Adepts saw it, a large, graceful bird-like creature appeared and directed beams of Wind Psynergy as it. Seconds later, the tornado stopped and Toadonpa was slammed onto the forest ground. Both Ivan and Isaac hit it with the Tisiphone Edge and Sol Blade respectively.

          "I summon Ulysses, the legendary wandering mage!" Jenna yelled. Core, Fury, Mist and Shade all leapt up high into the air and disappeared. Then, a small piece of paper descended on the ground and transformed into a female mage. A few more pieces of paper slowly fell and changed into translucent images of large snapping claws that attacked Toadonpa relentlessly. The toad fell back again, landing on Dodonpa (just like before) as the apparitions faded away. It was finally defeated. 

          All the eight Adepts let out a sigh of relief, although some were panting, like Jenna and Sheba from summoning. As they looked back across the rift, they saw the limp figure of Toadonpa unconscious on the forest ground and Dodonpa scrambling away, back into the dense Kolima Forest.

          "Hey! He's getting away!" Picard said, who was the first to look up. The rest of them, alerted, looked across the abyss and saw that Dodonpa was missing and only Toadonpa was there. 

          "Let's go, guys!" said Felix, taking charge. Isaac, Ivan, Sheba, Mia, Picard got up and followed their leader back into the woods.

          "Garet?" said Jenna, looking back at her fellow Mars Adept, who had not gotten up yet. "Garet! Get up!"

          He did not move. He simply stood there, staring at the ground.

          "Garet! Come on! GARET!!!" Jenna shouted, getting impatient. "We're going to fall behind!"

          The Mars Adept still stood there, as though he could not hear her.

          "GARET!!!" she screeched. "COME ON!" Jenna strode over to where Garet stood and grabbed his hand, intending to pull him along, but he wrenched his hand out of her grip.

          "What is it with you?" She glared at him. "We are going to fall behind if you don't hurry up!"

          Slowly, Garet looked up and stared at Jenna. His gaze seemed unfamiliar to her. It was cold and harsh, completely different to his usual warm and friendly brown eyes. This time, however, there seemed to be a mad glint in his eyes. Slowly, he drew the Darksword. 

          "Garet, what _are_ you doing? Hello, we just defeated Toadonpa! Why do you need the Darksword for?"

          The Mars Adept ignored her and held his sword high and advanced on her.

          "Come on, Garet! What are you doing, staring at me like that? Hey! What's wrong with you?!" she shrieked when he suddenly made to attack her with his sword.

          It suddenly dawned on her that the Cleric's Ring that was usually on his finger was gone and without it, the spirit of the cursed sword had taken over Garet's mind.

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Wow! This is my longest chapter so far!

Blitz: You call a chapter with 2,000+ words long?

…Yeah. It's my longest chapter. At least for now… Sorry for any confusion the things listed at the bottom show (skip this if you want, because I can be pretty boring at times):

1. I know the Adepts' speeds are all messed up

2. I thought of new attacks for Toadonpa. Okay, I only thought of the 'Darkness Blast' one. I figured the original ones would be very strong, you know what I mean?

3. Toadonpa has way too much stamina then before, but if it was defeated too easily, it would be boring, right?

4. Ivan and Jenna both have the Tisiphone Edge, if it was confusing (I got 2 in my game! ^___^)

5. I also know that the descriptions for Procne is 'a goddess in bird form' instead of 'the goddess in the form of a bird' and Ulysses is supposed to be 'a legendary wandering mage' instead of 'the legendary wandering mage' but it would be weird if Sheba said, "I call upon Procne, a goddess in bird form", right? Or am I the only one who thinks so…

6. I added the effect of the spirit of the cursed item possessing the body if you don't have the Cleric's Ring, even though the original effect was random immobilisation… 

Okay, maybe that list is stupid…

Blitz: Mercury, you got what you asked for. Tempest!

Granite: Grand Gaia!

Sleet: Freeze Prism!

::gets blasted with Tempest, Grand Gaia, and Freeze Prism:: Ow… ::uses author powers to heal herself again:: But it wasn't a very suspenseful cliffhanger, was it?

Blitz + Granite + Sleet: Liar!

Um…

Blitz + Granite + Sleet: Eeeeeeeeevil cliffy! 

Blitz: What _is_ it with you and cliffhangers, anyway?

Sleet: Putting them four times in a row?

Granite: How evil can you get?

Uh, very?

Blitz + Granite + Sleet: You better update soon, otherwise you're going to have a mob of Angry Reviewers, too. [Refer to Yoshimi Takahashi's fic,_ Weyard Weekly_] Although there wouldn't be many reviewers, seeing as how little reviewers you have, you know… But we'll join them, too, if there ever is an angry mob… 

Eep! No way! I'll update soon! And in the meantime, please review! Please?

Blitz + Granite + Sleet: And NO POINTLESS FLAMES, PLEASE! They will be deleted for sure. Thank you. =)


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